After This Life

Christians do not own a monopoly on beliefs of what awaits us on the other side. Various cultures around the world have their own thoughts, most of them believing that the world to come will be in some way better than the one in which we reside. And of course there are those that scoff at the idea of an eternal soul, but I am of the firm belief that seventy or eighty years followed by a celestial dirt-nap will not be my final destination. I cannot be persuaded otherwise. What would be the adventure in that?

Regardless of what you or I think, there is an appointment with death that we all must keep – no one gets out of here alive. Are you looking for truth in the Bible? Try this one: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. There may be no greater truth in the Bible that can be physically proven more so than this one.

I’ve noticed that we look on death in different ways, depending on our age. When I was young, I worried about death very little. There were so many people in my family and in my circle of acquaintances that were older than me. I had a full life ahead of me and everything to look forward to; death was certainly not waiting for me. I kept this mind-set well into my twenties, until I had children of my own. Then I worried enough to take out a life insurance policy because once you realize that others depend on you, you also comprehend that you may not always be able to be there for them.

So I bought a life insurance policy, but only to stave off the proverbial worst-case scenario. I did it for my wife and children – but nothing was going to happen to me. During my thirties, I watched as one by one, many special people in my life began to pass away. I began attending funerals for people I had known my whole life, and watched as their caskets were lowered into the ground. It is such a final moment when you witness it, and you come to grips with the fact that you will not be seeing them again in this life. They are gone; kept alive only in your heart by all of the fond memories they have left behind.

This reality of death was finally brought home to me when I lost my oldest sister a few years back. We were a year apart in age and grew up together, hay-seed kids living out in the country. She was tough as nails as a result, and I have the scars to prove it. We were close growing up, but we drifted apart as we grew older due to our own families and children, and as a consequence of her having moved away to another town. When she died, it was not the weekend or holiday visits that I remembered while attending her funeral. It was not a harsh word or two that we may or may not have passed to each other at some other point in time. I remembered her and me playing in the fields and woods around our house when we were kids. I remembered the time she taught me to drive, and many occasions when she ratted me out for things I thought mom would never find out about. I thought about the time I liked this girl in 6th grade and did not have the courage to tell her, so my sister told her for me. Then she threatened my life if I did not go and talk to the girl - I recall her exact words were ‘stop being so shy, stupid!’ When we were young and I had a problem with bullies in school, she was always there to take care of them for me. These are the memories of her that I will keep – memories of a time when we were young and long before our adult lives got in the way.

She’s gone now, and sooner or later my own time will come. Because of my faith, it does not worry me in the least. I’m assured of where I am going and how I will spend eternity. I believe it is important to have that comfort as well as the security that comes through your faith, because I can’t imagine how life could be bearable without it. I’m not looking to encounter Nirvana or Valhalla when I reach the other side, because I believe it will be better than that. Paul writes: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

It won’t be so bad.
Me and Danna

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